


Militarystuck- Many Miles From Home

by lesbians



Category: Homestuck
Genre: Alternate Universe - Military, Disabilities, Drugs, Everyone Is Gay, F/F, F/M, Gen, Headcanon Bodies, Heavy Angst, Humanstuck, M/M, Major Character Injury, Major character death - Freeform, Multi, Other, PTSD, So much death, lgbtq+
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-05-10
Updated: 2015-07-09
Packaged: 2018-03-29 20:21:43
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 19
Words: 20,809
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3909367
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lesbians/pseuds/lesbians
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Your name is Dave Strider.<br/>And you are at war.</p><p>Nobody can know your secrets. Your sex, your boyfriend, the way a single thought about your brother can trigger you.</p><p>You never asked for this.</p><p>You never wanted this. </p><p>But what are you supposed to do?</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

-Dave's Backstory-

You knew something was wrong the day you first went to school. Everybody called you something you never liked. They called you a girl. I mean, sure, you were born a female, your name was Daphne, and your bro sent you to school in ironic "My Little Pony" clothing, but it didn't feel... right. 

In fifth grade, you looked up something on the internet. It was a term you had heard thrown around a few times, and it sparked your interest. Dysphoria. According to Google, gender dysphoria was when someone was born in the wrong body. Meaning, someone felt like one gender, but was born another. 

Realization hit you like a brick. You had dysphoria, there was no denying it. After that, you began to feel trapped in your body. Eventually, you decided to ask your bro for advice.

"Bro, I think I'm a boy."

"What? Not now, Daphne, I'm busy."

"But it's important. I have dysphoria, bro!"

He turned around rather slowly. His pointy shades made him look pretty intimidating. You gulped. Was that too sudden? Bro had never been gentle with personal things like this. When you were really little and wet the bed once, he made you strife with him.

"Are you sure?"

You nodded quickly, not wanting to be punished. You were positive. All the times you tried to look like a boy, to play with the boys at school... They all failed miserably. You were full of dysphoria, that was obvious.

"Alright then, little man. Let's go get you a makeover."

Your jaw dropped. Right now? He wasn't going to punish you? But... what about school? You can't go to school one day as a girl and come back the next as a boy! This was too fast, it was just... You looked at your bro's expectant face and smiled. Perfect. It was just perfect.

"What about school?" You asked when the two of you were in the car. Bro shook his head and sighed. You looked down at your small breasts, filled with relief that you were a late bloomer. What were you going to do when they grew? Would you just ignore them?

"Screw that. I'm pulling you out of school, Daphne. You're getting homeschooled." You stifled a laugh at the thought of your bro teaching you. 

Wait.

Daphne?

The name had to go.

But what could you be called? Dan? Donald? Drew? Dick? Okay, no way were you calling yourself Dick. You adjusted your shades, the ones you had proudly named Dave when you were three. You smiled at the thought, how innocent you were. Dave was such a stupid name for a pair of sunglasses.

One haircut and three hours of shopping later, you were back home. Bro was on the phone, explaining why he wanted to pull you out of school. The school, of course, needed him to fill out paperwork, but he didn't want to. You were half-listening to the conversation, half-thinking about your future life, and not paying any attention to the screen in front of you displaying your favorite TV show.

Dave.

As stupid as it was, the name would not leave you alone. It was like it was calling your name. With every breath of air you took in, the name was there.

Dave.

Come to think of it, that name would be so ironically delicious. You would sound like the coolest thing since Godzilla. 

Dave.

"His name is Dave," had a nice ring to it. You smiled and touched your shades subconsciously, thanking your past self for giving them such an ironic name. 

And for your dysphoria.


	2. Chapter Two

-Karkat Backstory-  
Your name is Karkat Vantas.  
You are currently twelve years old.  
And you hate your body.

You have no idea when you started to hate the fact that you had curves. You were completely oblivious when you started despising your femininity. All you know is that, looking in the mirror now, with the boxers you stole from your brother, and the ace bandage wrapped tightly around your chest, you felt oddly comfortable. 

Of course, though, you had forgotten to lock the door.

This wasn't the first time you had tried to look like a male, and it certainly wouldn't babe the last. But when you heard the doorknob click and the slow creak of the door opening, you wished you hadn't this morning.

A very sleepy Kankri stood in the doorway, his eyes closed. He yawned loudly. "Karkat? Is that you?"

Yes.

Yes!

YES!

He wasn't wearing his contacts yet, which meant he couldn't see you! You thanked the Lord above that you had stolen his spare pair of glasses last week. 

"Uh, yeah. I'm kind of indecent at the moment, so I-"

"Wrap a towel around yourself. I need to use the bathroom, and I would appreciate it if you would leave. I apologize for interrupting you."

You hurriedly wrapped yourself in a red towel and dashed out of the room. Locking yourself in your bedroom, you sighed in relief. Your eyes fell upon the scissors you had once used for cutting yourself. You pulled the towel off of yourself. Sure enough, scars still littered your thighs.

You picked up the scissors and looked at the mirror. You saw a boy, for the most part. The long ginger hair that tickled your pale skin gave away your sex. You pulled it into a ponytail and took in a deep breath.

The scissors seemed to work on their own. Pretty soon, your hair was styled in a pixie cut. You smiled, satisfied. 

"Karkat! Get up!" 

Crap.

CRAP.

You grabbed a random baseball cap that you didn't know you owned and threw it on your head.

You got dressed in your normal outfit, a sweater and jeans, still wearing your makeshift binder and your brother's boxers.

You forgot that you had a C cup, and your new flat chest would not go unnoticed. 

You had always been a little pudgy, and wore baggy clothing. That could have been an excuse for your nonexistent breasts, but nothing could hide your short hair.

Not even the baseball cap.

You stepped out of your bedroom carelessly, not noticing the look your brother gave you. 

"Karkat?"

Your dad stared at you. You scowled and looked away. He dropped the skillet in his hands, allowing it to fall to the ground with a deafening crash.

"Karkat? Oh my God, what have you done?"

For some reason, you burst into tears. Your older brother rushed over to you and pulled you into a tight hug. 

"What's wrong with her?"

You sobbed harder. Kankri knew what was going on, you could tell. He stiffened and pulled away from you. His eyes were filled with a look of realization and shock.

"Nothing's wrong with him, Dad. He just needs to talk."

For once, you appreciated your older brother. Your father squinted. Kankri shifted uncontrollably under his gaze.

"Why are you using male pronouns for your sister, Kankri?"

"I'M A BOY!"

The scream erupted from your throat, full of emotion. It left the room silent, even your violent sobbing ceased. Kankri nodded slowly. Your dad stood still, tears filling his eyes. "You're... a what?"

His voice was weak, sad. You gulped and looked him in the eye.

"Dad, listen to me. I am a god damn boy."

Your brother mumbled something about unnecessary swearing, earning him a cold glare from you. Your dad began to laugh.

He was laughing. He was laughing at you, after you came out!

Or maybe he was laughing with you?

"I should have known you were trans. I thought you were going through a phase at first, then I thought you were crossdressing, and... oh, Karkat. You really gave me a scare."

You were speechless. How the hell was he so lighthearted? WHY the hell was he so lighthearted? He smiled at you and you nodded a bit. 

You were finally content with your body after that.


	3. Chapter 3

-Rose Backstory-

Your name is Rose Lalonde. You are currently thinking about death. 

You knew that, for a nine year-old girl, death is not a subject normally pondered upon. But you couldn't help it. It seemed so satisfying, so... FREE.

Of course, you would never say that out loud. People would think you were depressed. Your teacher already spoke to your mother about you being so solitary, you didn't need her speaking about you being suicidal.

Not that you were. You've never pressed a blade to your skin, never attempted to reach the death you were so fascinated by.

And you never would.

A mosquito buzzed by your head, and you smashed it. You watched as its crushed body slowly stopped moving. You just killed a living thing.

Why is it that you feel no shame?

This mosquito was not a human. If you killed a human, it would be much different. You would feel shame, would not feel indifferent. 

You decided that day that you would never purposely kill a human. Never purposely harm a person.

Soon after you decided upon this, you began to enjoy morbid things. Edgar Allan Poe in particular reflected your interest in death. There were so many different theories about the afterlife, but Poe never spoke of any of them. It was life, and then life's end. 

You gave up on religion.

The church was so judgemental, anyways. They never supported transgenders or homosexuals. One day at Sunday school you witnessed a boy getting slapped because he came out. A red mark appeared on his cheek, all because he was gay.

Needless to say, your mother was fine with this decision. She was always accepting, and you noticed her frowning during Mass more than once because of the poor decisions made by the church. 

She still went to church after that, just never the church that you had previously attended. She went to a church that was very supportive while still following the rules of Christianity. 

You thought it was useless.

This heaven they always spoke of was nothing like real death. Death was not the beginning of something, it was the end of something. Maybe there was an afterlife. But there wasn't a castle in the clouds where angels played golden harps. That was ridiculous.

When you turned twelve, your cousin died. You went to his funeral. The church held it, and for once, you didn't mind sitting at the pew. You went to see her lifeless body, so peacefully lying in the coffin. 

It was beautiful.

No matter what, you wouldn't cause death.

However, you would appreciate it.


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter has a glimpse of the future, and contains a major character death! And a minor character death!   
> Trigger Warning:  
> This content my be disturbing to some. Do not read ahead if you are emotionally attached to Vriska or the Dolorosa, because this chapter describes their deaths in detail.

-Kanaya's Backstory-

Your name is Kenneth.   
It is your eighth birthday.   
Everyone is at your party. 

All the boys, at least. The only girl who showed up was Vriska, and she just ruins the whole mood. 

You decide to open your first gift. It was from this boy named Daniel, and was wrapped in gift wrap with trucks all over it.

How distasteful.

You tried not to wince when you opened the package to see a toy car covered in fake mud. Daniel grinned and you noticed he had written a card and taped it to the car.

You opened it.

"Awesome truck, huh?  
Happy birthday Kenneth!"

It was short, but you appreciated that. At least you wouldn't have to read some long letter. 

One of the packages caught your eye. It was wrapped in jade green paper and was placed separate from the rest of the presents. 

A boy named Jack was hovering by it. "Open this one, Kenneth!" Something about the grin on his face told you that you shouldn't.

He grabbed it and raced over to you. You took the messily wrapped package and set it on the table. The children watched as you gingerly started to open it. 

A note you hadn't noticed before fluttered to the floor.

You ignored it and continued. Your finger grazed against something sharp. A bead of blood gathered at the top of your finger. You pulled away quickly and shouted. Tears rolled down your cheeks. Your mother raced over to you.

Your eyes drifted to the note on the floor. You squinted. What did it say? Your vision was blurred with tears. Vriska snatched the present off of the table. Jack's face fell.

"Vriska, I wouldn't-"

She stuck her tongue out at him and began to unwrap your present. "I'll open for you, Kenneth!" She said in a phony voice. You sniffed. 

Jack reached out to stop her, but it was too late. You watched in horror as your rival caught on fire. Heat was radiating from the package. Vriska's skin was melting. She screamed as a loud ticking sound was heard. 

Your mother let go of you and rushed over to Vriska. "It's a bomb! Everyone, get outside, now!" You stayed put. The bomb started beeping. Vriska tried to let go of the package, but her skin stuck to it like glue.

Your mother ripped her hands off of the package. The bomb went off. But you never saw it. You were running outside. Vriska was close behind you, wailing in agony. 

She lot an arm, and her left side was paralyzed. She wore and eyepatch over the skin that melted in the accident afterwards.

Your mother was dead. Your house was gone. Your friends cowered in fear when they saw you. It didn't matter. You wanted to be alone, anyways.

Vriska had PTSD. She was still a brat, but she was a crazy brat. Maybe that's why she gave you the package. Maybe that's why you accepted it.

You didn't open it until after your mother's funeral. Vriska died a year later, the radiation from the bomb too much for her heart. 

It was a scary time for you.

You began to draw. You designed clothing. It was something you had a great passion in. While you were designing, all memories of the accident disappeared.

One day while you were sketching a dress, you fell off of your mattress. Your pencil rolled under your bed, and you reached for it. There was something soft under the bed.

The package.

The one Vriska gave to you, two years ago.

With shaky hands, you reached for the present. It was slightly squishy, but there was something flat and firm in it as well. You gulped and tore it open. A note. There was a note attached to the paper. You picked it up, heart racing.

"I will get you.   
-Jack"

You dropped the note in disgust. It flipped over and you noticed some more writing. It was Vriska's handwriting. 

"Hey, Kenneth. Listen, you're a loser, and I hate you for getting that paper cut on your eighth birthday,"

Your eyes welled with tears.

"But that's not the point. The point is that Jack is dangerous. He's not who you think he is. Jack is the enemy, Kenneth. Anyways, happy tenth birthday. Hopefully this skirt gives you enough fabric for a dress or whatever. Oh, and there's a sketchbook, too."

You were sobbing. Vriska was the most stuck-up, insufferable, irritating person you knew. She taunted you countless times. Even after death she called you a loser.

And yet, she was the only one who gave you a birthday present on your tenth birthday.

So what if it was two years late?

You smiled at the new sketchbook and the red skirt. The fabric was perfect for a dress, but none that you've designed. It was the same color as the jeans you enjoyed wearing. You held it up to your waist and looked in the mirror. It looked pretty. 

You locked the door and slipped it around your waist. It was a bit long, but it was gorgeous. You grabbed the lipstick you stole from your mother's old makeup box. It was a perfect shade of jade green. You quickly applied it to your lips and looked in the mirror again.

You were a very pretty girl. "Such a pretty girl," you thought. "This girl could be a model." 

The skirt was a perfect fit. How could such a positive gift come from such a negative person?

The amount of time you spent in front of the mirror grew over time. You thought what you were doing was crossdressing, but you didn't feel like a male while wearing the skirt. You felt like a female. Maybe that still counted as crossdressing?

You never gave up on designing clothing. You just wished you had a model. Your older sister, Porrim insisted that she was too busty to be your model, but her chest wasn't as full as she made it out to be.

Every time she said this, anger rose in your chest. You wanted breasts like Porrim. Like Vriska. You stole one of her bras and stuffed it the next time you tried to look like a female. It made you happy.

Eventually, Porrim began questioning you.

"What are you hiding in your room for?"

"Is that lipstick on your face? Kenneth, did you steal Mom's lipstick?"

"Have you seen my bra? I can't find it!"

One day, you seemed to just... burst. You told Porrim everything. She smiled understandably. "I see. You're transgender. My friend Kankri speaks of it all the time. Don't worry Kenneth, I don't judge you. Do you want to borrow some of my clothing?"

You nodded shyly. Porrim seemed a little too accepting of this... what was the catch?

"So, Kenny. This isn't a... fetish thing, correct?"

Your face heated up and you violently shook your head.

"No, of course not, Porrim! I just feel like a female, that's all. I... I... I don't even... you know..." You couldn't bring yourself to say the word.

Porrim smiled. "Okay, Kenny. Whatever you say. Do you have a name in mind?"

You tilted your head. A name? No, not really. I mean, there were tons of options. Karli, Kim, Ki... that's all you could think of. "No, not really."

Your older sister nodded. "You know what? Before you were born, I wanted to name you Kanaya. When it turned out that your sex was make, Mom said we could just name you Kenneth instead. How does 'Kanaya Maryam' sound to you?"

It sounded perfect.


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Gamzee's Backstory, which is really short. Sorry! -_-

-Gamzee's Backstory-

You already know your name.  
It's Gamzee Makara.  
Why would I need to tell you that?

You are stoned. It's bad.

The first time you ever tried weed was way back in... sixth grade.

When you were thirteen.

All those years ago. That was before you got the scars.

The ones from your father. He told you that you were a disgrace to the family. Your brother, Kurloz, tried to stop him, but how much can a mute boy do to help his brother?

But it's chill now. Now that you're smoking weed and all, it's fine. You best just keep to yourself. That's what Kurloz does.

Anyways, in sixth grade, you only had two friends. Terezi Pyrope and Eridan Ampora. Eridan never spoken to you much, but he stuck around long enough for you to consider him a friend. 

Did he even speak to you at all?

Nah, probably not. But it's best you just block those bad memories out and take your own kind of medicine. 

Terezi was a nice-looking girl. She was blind and showed an interest in law, but she was nice-looking. You two had a complicated relationship. You always fought with each other, but it was almost... platonic hate? No, not platonic, because you two snogged and whatnot sometimes. It was a hateful romance, all in all. 

Eventually you two broke it off, though. And that was okay. You didn't mind being alone. It just got, well, lonely at times.

After you started doing drugs, people stopped hanging around you. You picked up some pretty foul language, you're not sure from who, and got detention very often.

Detention.

That's where you met Sollux. 

Sollux Captor.

He was playing a video game under the desk, and you were watching him. He eventually noticed and sighed.

"What, do you want to play, weed-breath? I really don't want to give my game up. Tho how about I jutht keep on playing and you keep on watching or whatever."

You agreed happily.

After that, you noticed Sollux more and more. Passing him in the hallway, staying inside at recess, even willingly taking a detention (probably to stick his face in a game boy the whole time again).

Detention with Sollux became customary for you, a routine. Each time you walked in, slapped him on the back, sat down next to him, it was all a ritual for you.

You wish that one day hadn't happened, though.  
The day you were sober.

You don't remember much about it. You couldn't find your drugs that morning and went to school without them. Your anger grew with each breath you took, each step you made. Nobody understood what withdrawal was like. No one.

The reason you went to detention that day was because you shoved somebody.

Sollux was there, as usual, playing his game.

"What'th up, weed-breath?" Your fists clenched. 

"DON'T! Call. Me. That."

Sollux looked up.

You heard the cries of pain, felt the mixture of blood and tears on your fists, saw the fear and hurt on your friend's face.

But that wasn't all that was on his face.

There were five dark, almost black, bruises all along his jawline. There was a gash underneath his eye. His nose was twisted in an unnatural way. 

Tears were rolling down his cheeks, and a mixture of bile and vomit was present on the front of his shirt. You laughed.

"Did you just all up and puke yourself? All because I hurt you a little bit? Man, you must be the WEAKEST person I know."

You were never sober again after that.

You also never saw Sollux again.

Some nights you would lie awake in bed, wondering what happened to him. You promised you would never hurt someone like that again.

Ever.

It was soon after that that you began wearing your face paint. To be honest, you looked like a clown, but you sort of liked it. It hid your scars, made you look less intimidating.

But you didn't have any friends to show it to. No friends to ensure that you would never hurt them. 

You looked in the mirror, tears in your eyes and a weak smile on your face. You started speaking, your voice a low whisper.

"Hey, best friend."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> But let's be honest, to Sollux, the clown makeup was probably terrifying. A clown that had the power of beating someone as bad as Gamzee beat Sollux would terrify ME. Also, sorry it's so short. I wrote this in forty minutes, so... yeah, not the best quality.


	6. Chapter 6

-Tavros' Backstory- 

Your name is Tavros Nitram.  
You are a nonbinary paraplegic person.  
You love animal.  
And yooo you're so in love with Vriska Serket.

Not that she knows who you are.

She has better things to do. 

Like hang out with Kanaya.

Leaving you with nothing to do but like, talk to animals or something.

Well, you could practice your sick fires, but you never really thought they were all that good.

You talked to your internet friend, Gamzee, a lot. He may have gotten you into weed, but you weren't as bad as him. And it wasn't really like you had withdrawals if you went without it. 

Gamzee was sort of the one that convinced you to go to Kanaya's party. He said you should go because "weed is at parties bro :o)". You should probably point out both of you were stoned when be said this.

So you went. By now you weren't stoned, but you already said you were going, and you didn't want to seem rude. All you brought for a present was a card saying, "Happy Birthday!" With ten dollars in it.

She never opened it.

You were there when the bomb went off, when Vriska went through that traumatic experience. Kanaya's mother died. You were the closest person to the house when it exploded. Your wheelchair wouldn't budge. No one else heard the screams of Kanaya's mother.

Probably for the best. 

About a month later, Vriska walked up to you. You still have no idea why. You barely ever spoke with each other before. But she started talking to you like you had been best friends since kindergarten.

At first, you thought it was a joke. Sort of like those hidden camera shows. But it wasn't. Vriska became your closest friend. You talked to each other every day, sometimes hanging out after school.

One day she invited you to your house. Imagine that. A girl with PTSD and a paraplegic guy spending the night in the same house. You set up a tent in her living room, and spent most of your time in it. Vriska leaned in and whispered in your ear.

"Hey, you know what a best friend is?"

You nodded. Of course you did, Gamzee and you were best friends. Vriska and you were best friends. Gamzee spoke of a guy named Sollux often. Maybe they were best friends, too.

Vriska smirked. "Really? How many best friends do you have?"

You thought for a moment and held up four fingers: Vriska, Gamzee, Rufio, and this dog named Fido. Her face fell and she she shook her head. "No, you dummy! You can only have one best friend! Am I your best friend?"

Her loud voice startled you. "Yeah, I guess so. Actually, yes. You are my best friend, Vriska." She grinned.

"Okay then, Tavros. Do you know what my big sister says about best friends? She says that they're the only person in the world you can trust. Not even your parents!"

You nodded, sort of understanding her. "Who is she best friends with?" Vriska waved her hand, as if she was brushing the subject away. Her glasses slid halfway down her nose.

"Aranea doesn't have any friends, let alone a best friend." You giggled. This was somehow very funny to me. Vriska and Aranea were pretty much the same, both talkative and annoying, but only Vriska was able to get a best friend? 

A month passed. Your friendship grew into something more. You're not sure if you could count it as an "item," but you held hands, and sometimes she would kiss you on the cheek. 

Vriska started acting odd after that. She would have these random phases when she would just be... out of it. One time she just broke down in the hallway, crying. Another time she fainted, falling on top of you and making you fall down the stairs. 

One day, before math class, she seemed really weak. When she was pushing me in my wheelchair, she had to lean on it for support. When I asked her if she was okay, she gave me a tight smile and nodded. Two hours later, she had a seizure. You called the hospital immediately. 

She had brain cancer.

Vriska died two months later, leaving me with no one. You noticed that Kanaya seemed as sad as everyone else. A package was ever present in her locker. It was from Vriska.

The funeral was torture. 

You saw her lifeless body. She was wearing her normal flannel shirt and jeans. Her eyepatch was still present. Her red converse were old and tattered. Her lips were still shimmering with blue lipstick, not doing much to hide the damage from the bomb. 

You missed her voice. It was shrill and loud, and she had a slight lisp. But I missed it. I touched her face softly. A tear fell from your eye and plopped onto her cheek.

Her mother spoke. Aranea remained silent for once. You listened intently. What she said was short, but it made you burst into tears. 

"Four months ago my daughter was diagnosed with brain cancer. She was supposed to die within a week. She stayed alive. One night, after a stressful day at work and a bottle of wine," the crowd chuckled. "I asked her how she stayed so strong. She looked me in the eye and said..." Her voice was shaking, her lip quivering. Tears filled her sorrowful eyes. "She said, 'Mama, I'm holding on for you. You, Aranea, and my best friend, Tavros.'"You sobbed. 

"Then she smiled. She said, 'Do you know what a best friend is, Mom? A best friend is the person you trust most. I trust Tavros with my life, and my life is what he shall receive.'"

You all left the funeral devastated.

You trusted Vriska more than anyone else.

Who could you trust now?

Fido. That's it.


	7. Chapter 7

-John's Backstory-

Your name is John Egbert.  
You are fourteen years old at the moment.   
You're also the happiest you've ever been.

It all started at school. It was just like any morning before: Dad dropped you off at school after you got dressed and ate some cereal. You were wearing a "Ghostbusters" T-shirt and khaki shorts. There were white sneakers on your feet, old and tattered. Your hair was a mess, and your dark face was pimpled. 

See, you were Hispanic, a nerd, and had no common sense. This sort of left you with nearly no friends. The only friend you had was a girl named Jade Harley who excelled in neuroscience. Needless to say, you two weren't very popular.

You were happy because next year, you would be in high school. Meaning there wouldn't be so much pressure to be popular, because high school is much more focused than middle school. (Yeah, okay, sure.)

It was the last month of school. Some girl in the next town over had just died, and everyone was sort of anxious about getting out of school. People were fidgeting left and right. No one was calm or composed. It was very distracting.

Jade was her normal self. She was peppy (maybe a little TOO so), and she was constantly forgetting things. The end of the year was always like this for you, but for Jade, it was just normal.

One morning in a particularly boring class, your phone buzzed. The teacher shot you a stern look and asked for it. But it was your dad, and he needed to talk to you, so she let you take the call.

"John, I am signing you up for summer camp, and will be picking you up early. Do you have a problem with that?"

You laughed with joy. Early release! Woo hoo!

"Yeah, sure, Dad! Awesome! Thanks, bye!"

After you got picked up, you went to the beach. Your dad set up a picnic, and you got a pet snail. You named it Casey, because why not? Dad even brought ice cream for dessert. 

Next year was gonna be great, today was awesome, and summer was creeping up on you.

Life was good.

Life is good.

Life is precious.

Life ends.

Woah, that got dark quickly. You stared at your dripping ice cream. Life is a precious thing that you didn't want the power to take away. You would never give yourself that power.

Your name is John Egbert.  
And life is good.


	8. Chapter 8

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jade goes to a dance and talks about summer.  
> Basically fluff.  
> TW: Minor prospitcest (John/Jade), but it's not really Canon.

-Jade's Backstory-

Your name is-  
Wait, stop right there.  
You know your name!  
It's Jade Harley!  
And you are getting ready to go to a school dance!

You were wearing a nice black dress with green trim. Your glasses had been cleaned for the first time in weeks. You removed the silly bands from your fingers and replaced them with rings. Your hair had been washed and your face covered in makeup. 

Your grandpa wouldn't let you wear the dog ears you bought. He put bandaids over each cut and bruises that showed.

What, you couldn't help that you were a clumsy girl!

The worst part about this dance was that you didn't even have a date!

Oh, right. John. That's not that bad, and it's also not entirely true. I mean, you were just going as friends (your were cousins, for goodness sakes!). 

Anyways, you hated this whole "school dance" thing. You were supposed to be at target practice right now, and instead you were painting your nails green. 

You arrived at the dance at 6:30, half an hour late. John was there, in a blue suit. You were the only couple that didn't match. He laughed nervously when he saw you.

"Wow Jade, you look like... like a girl."

You frowned and punched his shoulder. He winced and rubbed it. You were pretty strong, but you had a feeling John was just pretending to be hurt. 

"I am a girl, stupid!"

John laughed again. You smiled slightly and tried to stop thinking about target practice.

The songs playing were stupid and overused. The refreshments were store bought cookies and bottled water. The decorations were left over from eight grade graduation last year.

So yeah, it was pretty awesome.

The first slow song of the dance was played at 7:00. John and you were the only people dancing to it. John kept stepping on your feet, and you were way taller than him. Neither of you knew nor liked the song. It was hilarious. You two were practically rolling on the floor by the time the song ended. 

After the dance, people kept expecting school to go by faster.

It didn't. In fact, it probably went by slower than before. Even the teachers were distracted! You couldn't wait for summer break.

During the summer, you went to the island were you used to live. Your dog was there, and you missed him so much. Grandpa would often let you go on adventures with him.

Not that you told anyone that.

No, that was so immature.

The point is, school couldn't have gone by faster, and you couldn't stand it! 

John smiled at you in the hallway, his eyes glued to you. You waved slightly and smiled back. He rushed over to you and started talking about how he was having some friends over this weekend, and that you should come.

Yeah, summer could wait.


	9. Chapter 9

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Aradia's Backstory: She's mute.

-Aradia's Backstory-

"Oh, yes.  
Aradia Medigo.  
THAT girl."

That is a quick example of what you heard when you sparked a conversation with someone.

Well, not converse. 

How could a mute person converse?

You have been through multiple near-death experiences, and you're surprised you can even hear by now. So being mute isn't that big of a deal.

Your name is Aradia Medigo:  
Fourteen year-old mute girl with an interest in death.

I mean, could you really help being interested in death? You had come close to it multiple times, so...

Anyways, people always label you as "spooky and weird," so you can't really experiment with death or anything.

As if you wanted to do so anyways! 

I suppose you did have one friend, though.

Well, more than a friend.

You had Sollux Captor, your boyfriend who was blinded when he was beaten by his only friend.

Together you were "Spooky Girl and Messy Shirt."

Which made you angry, of course. I mean, poor Sollux was getting abused, of course he was going to vomit with fear! You would! Well, probably.

He was humiliated whenever you stood up for him, though, so you kept a low profile.

You didn't talk to anyone. Now there were no fistfights either. Middle school was so boring. Especially with Queen Feferi ruling the school.

Feferi was nice and all, but she was TOO nice. Not only that, but she was Sollux's ex, and you couldn't help being the TEENIEST bit jealous of her. 

But she had the school's only hipster now, Eridan Ampora. You hoped and prayed with every cell in your body that they grew old together. Which they probably wouldn't, because Eridan couldn't hold a relationship even if he tried. 

Sollux was yours, and that was final. 

One day your older sister, Damara, signed you up for therapy. It was the same therapist she went to. You see, Damara is adopted. She came from a very broken home in Japan, and has been to nearly every orphanage in her home country. Your family came from a Mexican heritage, and found Damara on a trip to Mexico, having run away from her family.

Her family had abused her, wanted her to speak Spanish, not Japanese. She was still learning English, but her friends mainly taught her four letter words and rude phrases. Damara went to speech therapy and had a bunch of other things that she attended to help her with the memories of abuse.

Anyways, she signed you up for it. Your mother was perfectly fine with this, for some God unknown reason. She mainly focused on Damara anyways, trying to learn more about her Japanese culture.

The therapist was a pretty woman with dark hair named Mindfang. She wanted to know if you could ever talk. You nodded. She asked you if you chose to stop speaking.

You were stumped.

I mean, in a way, you did, but you had an excuse. You blamed it on trauma, but you really just didn't enjoy speaking. The near-death experiences thing just sort of pushed you over the edge. You just gave up on life for a bit, and your voice sort of... have up on you.

You bet if you really tried you could talk, but you didn't want to. You nodded in response to her question. She smiled sadly. 

"So you gave up. You don't even try anymore."

Tears brimmed in the corner of her eyes. What was wrong with her? For some reason, this Mindfang woman was crying, in front of you, of all people. She let out a shaky sigh and punched the bridge of her nose.

"Sorry about that. Could you try to speak for me?"

Something inside you snapped, and you realized that Mindfang was giving up on life, too. You looked around her room. It was littered with empty wine bottles, coffee mugs, discarded papers, and shards of broken glass.

There was a picture of a girl on the wall. She was pretty, but young. Around thirteen, probably. There was another photo of her on the floor. The farm was cracked and the glass shattered. The girl wore and eyepatch, her skin pale. She looked frail. You realized her photo from the paper.

She was the girl in the next town over, Vrisky or something. She had died of brain cancer. You noticed that her pictures were all over the room, some featuring her eyepatch and withering figure, others showing her young and healthy, playing with her sister. There was a certain picture that caught your eye in particular. 

It was a family photo: Mindfang, the Vrisky girl, and another girl, probably another daughter. You picked it up. There was a note written on the back.

"Mama loves you, Vriska and Aranea!"

Mindfang was waiting expectantly. Her face fell. "No? Well, let me just make a note-"

"I'm sorry."

Your voice was raspy and low, not anything like you remembered it to be. Mindfang slowly smiled and laughed. You touched your lips softly. It was the first time you spoke in years. A wave of satisfaction rushed through you. You cleared your throat and tried it again.

"... Why is my... v-voice... ssss..."

You frowned and tried again.

"Sssssooo... weeee... weird."

Mindfang chuckled. "Yeah, you'll definitely have trouble speaking. Thank you for doing so, though. Now we can get started."

Over the next few weeks, you were speaking fluent site words. You had trouble with full sentences, though. Your voice would give out.

Mindfang said you just needed to exercise your vocal cords. 

So you did. Damara and you were about at the same level fluency-wise, but you were much quieter than she. While Damara's voice was loud and confident, yours was soft and low. 

Sollux was very proud of you. He literally cried tears of joy when you greeted him that first day with your words. 

But he wasn't the only one who noticed.

Queen Feferi was overjoyed with you. She bought you lunch on several occasions, and met you before school often to put your hair in braids, or curl it, or something. You would probably consider her your friend, if it weren't for her boyfriend being such a downer. He was always around her ("Because I LOVE her."), and was always making negative comments ("I can't help that I'm a pessimist, can I, Fef?") 

Sollux was a bit awkward around them, but he promised it wasn't because he liked Feferi. For one thing, he hated her boyfriend, and for another, both Feferi and Eridan were both his exes. So he had every right to be awkward.

Besides, he kissed you after he promised, so he was true to you. 

Feferi asked you to spend the night at your house. Of course you took her up in the offer, because she was your friend. All she was going to do was braid your hair and swim with you, probably.

But you were wrong. Feferi just wanted to talk with you. You two talked about everything: Eridan, Sollux, swimming, your adventuring. She told you that she and Eridan went to relationship counselling, and she loved him more each session. You told her about Mindfang. 

She was acting like your friend, not somebody who "pitied the mute girl." Sollux and she were the only people you could trust in life. You loved them with all your heart.

"So, Aradia, how are you?"

It was another session with Mindfang. You smiled and took a deep breath.

"Mindfang, things are great. I acqui.... acquir..."

You grunted but proceeded.

"I got a new friend. Her name is Feferi and..."

Stupid voice giving out.

Mindfang smiled.

"That's awesome, Aradia. Best friends help you a lot in life."

She smiled at a picture of her new boyfriend, Dualscar (Actually, wasn't that Eridan's stepfather?). You smiled at her.

Oh yeah. Best friends help you a lot.


	10. Chapter 10

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Just a fluffy chapter. Last backstory, though!

-Nepeta Backstory-

Oh for goodness sakes, do I even need to tell you your name?   
You should know your own name.  
Whatever.  
Your name is Nepeta Leijon.

You were five years old when adopted by the Leijon-Zahhak family. So yeah.

You remember the orphanage pretty well. There were nuns there. They told you it was unholy to roleplay romance with your dolls. Or just roleplay in general. You hated them.

Then you discovered shipping. Meulin taught you the art of shipping. Basically, you had four different kinds of ships: romance, best friends, hatemance, and somebody stopping a hatemance by caring for both people in the hatemance. 

You had a brother, too. Well, you had two brothers, but Horrus never spoke to you. Equius, on the other hand, spoke to you very often. You shipped each other in the friendship kind. One day, Equius found your shipping wall. When he saw the two of you with a diamond in the center indicating it was a friendship, he grinned.

"Why yes, Nepeta. I do believe you are my best friend."

And you were. In middle school, people bullied you because you were Vietnamese. Equius taught them a lesson, and, being the strongest person in your grade, also gave them a few bruises.

Not that you approved of it or anything. But you appreciated your best friend sticking up for you. He was so trustworthy. But, then too... he was a bit racist.

But that's only because your father brought him up that way. Your mother helped him through it and all, but he could be pretty rude at times. He didn't mind your race, though. Not that you would care even if he did mind it, because he was so dear to you, nothing could stop you from loving him (platonic, guys).

One day, you were feeling a bit adventurous. It was the weekend, so you had no homework, and nobody was nagging you to stay inside all day. So you ventured into the woods with Equius.

You were walking for hours, just talking, before you realized you went too far from home. But you had gone on a path like every good child should, and hadn't strayed once, so you knew you way back.

There was a persistent meowing.

You quickly ducked around a tree to be met face-to-face with an adorable little cat! It had fluffy white fur and olive eyes. You picked it up and it nuzzled your neck. Equius frowned. "Nepeta. That cat could hurt you. Let's go home now."

You shook you head. "Nepeta says, 'No way, Equius, I've just acquired so new kitten. I will take it home.' She then starts running home, the kitten tucked in her jacket."

Equius called after you as you dashed out of the woods, not stopping until you saw your backyard. You laughed and ran into your house.

Meulin practically attacked you. She loved cats, and, although she was deaf, she seemed to understand everything you told her about it. Equius was a bit sour for a few days after you adopted the kitten, but, you know... He got over it.

When you were thirteen, you had your first crush. He was a tall boy named Alex who didn't even know who you were. You got your heart broken by him when you discovered he had a girlfriend. Still, it was a glorious ship, so you kept it on your shipping wall.

Sometime after you got over Alex, you discovered gender. You were most comfortable with the term "bigender," meaning you felt both male and female. It gave you the option to feel masculine and feminine. You kept using female pronouns, but felt a lot more like a male when your breasts began developing. 

But to think that you WERE a male...

It scared you.

It scared you in a way that you knew it felt wrong, so why we're you thinking it? When you thought, "Nepeta, you are both male AND female..." now, THAT felt right. 

But nobody accepted you.

Excepting Equius, of course.

:33


	11. Anywhere Else Would Be Best

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> First year of high school, featuring everyone who's had a backstory so far! And the only people who WILL have a backstory! Here you go!

\- Anywhere Else Would Be Best -

Your name is Dave Strider. You are fourteen years old, almost fifteen. You started high school about three months ago. You have seven friends. Dang son, you're pretty popular. 

Except you and your friends were the outcasts.

There was Rose Lalonde, the school's only lesbian, who just so happened to also be your gothic cousin. She was dating Kanaya Maryam.

Kanaya Maryam was a trans female with a great fashion sense. She was really calm and all, but there were some people who just made her... rage, really.

John Egbert and Jade Harley were cousins, best friends, and seemingly joined at the hip. John was dorky and naive, while Jade was a bit of a jerk and couldn't commit to much. Both are total nerds and wear braces.

Gamzee Makara was the school stoner. He was a pretty chill guy, but he wore clown makeup and had serious issues when experiencing withdrawals, so he kinda freaked you out.

Tavros Nitram was a paraplegic boy with almost no confidence. His girlfriend died like two years ago of brain cancer, but you're pretty sure he has a thing for Gamzee.

Aradia Medigo was a pretty chill girl. She was a little spooky and had an attitude, but besides that, she was okay. Her boyfriend goes to a different high school, along with her friend Feferi. Aradia has trouble speaking, but the stuff that DOES come out of her mouth... spooky.

 

Nepeta Leijon was a Vietnamese girl who is like, in love with making people fall in love. She's obsessed with cats as well. You were surprised when you found out she didn't share your love for anime.

Then there was... Karkat Vantas. You aren't gay or anything, but... wow. You definitely have a crush on him. Everything about him was cute; his braces (sure, Harley and Egderp had braces, but...), his wild and unruly hair (which was TOTALLY different from Gamzee's hair...), his way of being antisocial without being too rude (nothing like the way Aradia did it), his chubby figure (not like Rose or anything...), and his loud voice (Kanaya's voice was loud in a DIFFERENT way, right?). Of course, he is grumpy and prefers to be isolated, and you had a bit of a bad relationship at the beginning of your friendship (too much fighting), but he's adorable! 

He didn't return your feelings, you just know it.

That leaves you, Dave Strider. You have a sense of irony and a face full of acne. That was all you could say, besides that you were a trans male. But that was a secret, for the most part.

Anyways, today, you were supposed to have an assembly about Veteran's Day, which meant you missed out on math! Yes! 

Okay, in actuality, you have a lot of respect for veterans. Your older brother actually serves in the army as a commander. So Veteran's Day means a lot to you in reality. But you have to maintain a cool composure at all times, even when you're missing Bro. 

Karkat was complaining a lot in homeroom, so you wonder if he's going to complain about the assembly. If he does, you're probably going to be very angry. 

If he does. 

Which he probably won't. You decide to make a snarky comment on the bus. That will teach him to disrespect Bro.

"Karkles, are you on your man period or something?"

He snarls and looks away. John giggles. 

"Dave! You can't just ask Karkat something like that!

Jade slaps John, her face red. Kanaya and Rose exchange an amused look. Aradia sighs and turns back to her book, but not before smiling ever so slightly out the window. 

You grin and punch Karkat lightly on the shoulder. He rolls his eyes. "You know, Dave, not every trans male is as open as you." You tilt your head to the side. Karkat isn't trans, is he? His face heats up and he stutters. 

"I-I... I mean, l-like, you know, i-if I WERE trans... like... I probably wouldn't..." You laughed. Karkat is still mumbling about something, but you aren't paying attention. 

"No, man, I get it. We're all about Cis people here. I mean, John is Cis. Right, John?" John nods, sporting a goofy grin.

ALL RIGHT BRO, FOR REAL NOW. YOU SOUND LIKE YOU ARE WRITING A FREAKING NOVEL. CALM YOUR HORMONES. WRITE HOWEVER YOU WANT. THIS IS YOUR STORY. 

So, John was grinning from ear-to-ear. He looked like a... beaver or something. A beaver on drugs. Jade slapped the back of his head gently. 

"John, stop agreeing with him, John!" Her voice was wavering, and it was obvious she was stifling a laugh. Karkat rolled his eyes and turned around in the seat. His voice was loud and mean.

"Jade Harley, I cannot believe your ignorance. The topic of transgender versus cisgender does not bother any of us. We have Dave, you, Nepeta, Tavros, and Kanaya. An example of the wide variety of gender in our group. If you have a friggin' problem with the topic of 'gender,' go ahead and shove your head where the sun doesn't shine, because it's half of what we talk about. Now quit your useless attempt at trying to stop John and Dave, because it's obvious that best friends would like to converse with each other. 'Cease your speaking. We wouldn't want to hear that on a school bus filled with people who have spoken their whole life!'"

Aradia frowned, and Karkat noticed.

"Well, almost their whole life. My point is-"

"Can it, Brace Face, I was trying to DEFEND you!" 

Karkat tapped on Jade's lime green braces and smirked. 

"Look who's talking, Train Tracks."

At that exact moment, we pulled into the parking lot of the high school where we celebrate Veteran's Day with an assembly and free brunch for all veterans. You pulled on Karkat's sleeve, which turned his attention away from Jade. His face was changing emotions every second, it seemed. First he was annoyed, then, seeing it was you, relieved. Then, realizing it was you, angry.

Right. 

You sort of did start this whole argument, right?

Karkat pulled out his inhaler and breathed into it deeply. Yeah, all that yelling must've affected his asthma. He leaned in next to your ear. Your face heated up with anxiety and anticipation. What on earth would HE whisper in your ear?

"DAVE GET OUT OF THIS UNCOMFORTABLE SEAT SO WE CAN ACTUALLY FRIGGIN ENTER THE STUPID SCHOOL." 

It was the biggest high school in your area, which is probably why the assembly was held there. Karkat was glaring at you with annoyance. You nodded and stood up, no words needed. 

Well, more like "no words possible," because he was so close to you, you panicked and your throat closed up.

He climbed out of the seat behind you and grumbled something about how "these assemblies are stupid," and "he wishes he had skipped school."

Suddenly, your throat didn't feel so clogged up. 

You turned around, fists clenched. Karkat raised an eyebrow at you.

"What did you say?" 

He rolled his eyes.

"I said that these assemblies are stupid. War is stupid. All soldiers are just murderers, in my opinion."

You slapped him so hard a red mark appeared on his cheek. He touched his wound softly. There was blood on his hand. 

"If that's true, Karkat Vantas, then... then my brother is a murderer! And I know that he's not! Don't you have one ounce of sympathy for the people who wait every day for their family to return from war? The people who find out that their spouse died in action? The soldiers who write letters all the time, promising to come home soon, only to never return? Don't disrespect this country, Karkat! Don't ever say something like that again!"

You voice was cracking now, and tears were streaming down your face. Karkat stood there, his mouth agape. A teacher grabbed your arm and dragged you away, but you didn't notice. You still attended the assembly, but you had to sit next to your homeroom teacher the whole time. 

The next day, Karkat didn't talk much. Whenever he looked at you, you tried to apologize, but he gave you the silent treatment. 

It was right around the time that you and Karkat were acting like stupid children that Rose brought up the winter dance. 

"I think that each one of us should pair up. There are eight of us, so it should be pretty easy. The Snowflake Semi-Formal is in a month, which means we need to get outfits and figure out who's going with who."

Kanaya and Rose interlocked fingers and smiled at each other. You fake-gagged.

"Hold up, this sappy little show's gotta end. It's so sugary sweet my stomach hurts." You looked at Karkat to see his reaction. He frowned but remained silent. 

"Well, let's see. Rose and I would obviously be going together, and John and Jade."

John laughed. "Not as a couple, guys!" Jade gasped and elbowed him in the gut. He was still laughing, and she was grinning. "Obviously not as a couple, you jerk! Gross! John was giggling too much to speak. Jade slapped the back of his head for good measure.

Karkat winced when he heard the slap.

Gamzee put his arm around Tavros.

"I call dibs on this little mother-"

A teacher walked by, and Rose cleared her throat to stop Gamzee. Tavros was blushing.

Yes! He did have a thing for Gamzee! You should have bet on it. 

Nepeta raised her hand, and Aradia shifted her weight from one foot to another.

"Um, I was wondering... would I be able to go to the dance with Equius?"

Aradia stopped moving around and looked up. "And I Sollux?" 

Rose smiled gently. "Actually, they go to different schools. The Snowflake Semi is our school only."

Kanaya held one finger up. "However, you may go with each other as friends. You both have a lot in common, and you get along pretty well. And besides, nobody's going to suspect you two as a couple, because... You don't look like a couple." Nepeta smiled and Aradia nodded. 

"And that leaves-"

"NO."

You face fell. Karkat flat-out refused to go to the Snowflake Semi-Formal with you. Kanaya frowned. Karkat was pointing at you, and words were flying out of his mouth, but you didn't hear them.   
"And, so, no way."

You forced a laugh and nodded. "Yeah, sure, that's okay. I'm just-" Your voice was weak and high pitched. "Just gonna..." a tear slid down your cheeks as you ran to the bathroom.

Crap, why were you so emotional? Friggin' estrogen. You took your shades off and splashed water on your face. The door creaked open. "Uh... Dave?"

You froze. Karkat. You quickly put your sunglasses back on. "Yeah?" It was weak and not cool at all. It couldn't even settle for irony. But let's face it: You were emotional because your crush hated you. 

Karkat was scowling, as usual. "Listen, Dave, I'm sorry. But, you know, I didn't mean to hurt your-" 

"It's okay. I'm sorry too." 

Silence. Your face was red and your eyes puffy, and Karkat was embarrassed and fidgety. He walked over to you.

"Hey," his voice was softer than usual. Crap, here comes that sappy Karkat, the one who cares about his friends more than his romcoms. He pulled you into a hug. It was comforting and effective, and you felt much better.

"Listen, Dave, if you want to go to that stupid-ass dance with me, I don't care. Just... God. I'm sorry. I didn't mean to... you know, explode back there."

You nodded and pulled away. "S'okay. I shouldn't have slapped you the other day. It's just... my bro joined the military earlier this year, and I haven't seen him since. I sorta get... defensive, I guess?"

Karkat snorted. "Yeah, okay." He wrapped his arm around your shoulder. 

After that, you were friends again. Platonic friends. You showed every sign possible that you liked him, but he was oblivious A F. 

Kanaya and Rose helped to design your outfits. 

You were wearing a red and white tuxedo, with flames stocked into your sleeves. It was pretty cool, and they made the top baggy as well, thanks to you asking. You wore white sneakers.

Karkat wore a gray tuxedo with a red cancer symbol on the back. He was obsessed with his zodiac sign, so it suited him nicely. He wore red black dress shoes.

Rose wore a knee-length black dress made out of shiny material. She wore magenta tights and jewelry, and her shoes were covered in black sequins. 

Kanaya wore a silky green calf-length dress with a red "M" (for Maryam) stitched into the middle. She wore white leggings, green shoes, and red jewelry. 

Gamzee was dressed pretty casually. He wore a baggy purple tuxedo and a spotted tie. He still had his clown makeup on. He had purple converse on.

Tavros wore an orange-brown button up shirt and brown and orange checkered shorts. He had brown sandals on. 

Nepeta wore a sleeveless denim dress with a light green T-shirt underneath. She had a green heart hair clip on, and wore light green shimmery leggings. Her shoes were black Mary Janes.

Aradia wore a silky knee-length maroon dress with a black headband. She had ripped black leggings and wore maroon heels. Her hair was up in a bun. 

John had a traditional black tuxedo with light blue designs made to look like wind on the sleeves. His shoes were black sneakers with a blue Nike tick.

Jade wore an emerald green maxi dress. She had a gold belt on, black flip flops, and a black shawl. Her hair was in an unruly ponytail. 

The plan was to go in as couples and group together as friends, but Rose and Kanaya, the people who made up the rule, split off from the rest to go dance in the center.

Gamzee pushed Tavros around in his wheelchair, in a sloppy, God awful version of slow dancing. Tavros gripped onto his wheelchair for life, and Gamzee closed his eyes and shouted "Wheee!"

John and Jade stayed to the sidelines, as wallflowers. They basically just had some mad banter (That's right, lad, I said banter. You want some cheeky nandos, m8?) the whole time. A lot of people pointed and whispered, and in turn, Jade flipped them off.

Nepeta and Aradia would hung out by the snack bar, Nepeta munching on cookies and Aradia sipping a soda. Kanaya was right, nobody suggested anything about them being together.

And then there was Karkat and you.

Karkat stood awkwardly next to you, arms crossed, watching everything. You rolled your eyes. "Dude, you're kinda bumming me out. Do you want to do this or not?" Karkat squinted. "Your phone is ringing. Oh, I'm trying to think of a word." 

You squinted at him. "What?" Karkat rolled his eyes. "I... couldn't think of an insult. Look, just talk on your phone."

You owned the only flip phone left in existence. Therefore, you had no Caller ID. You flipped it open and made your way to a mostly empty hallway. "Yeah, this is Dave." 

Your greeting was so stupid. Remember to think of a different one.

"Well hey, little man, what's up?"

You swear to god your jaw hit the floor. That voice...

"... Bro?"

There was a hint of a laugh at the end. Mainly just Bro letting out a big breath in a way that hinted at amusement. You were too shocked to notice, or even care, really. 

"Yeah, Dave it's me. Just want to let you know that I'm coming home for a vacation. This summer and next school year."

You let out the same breathy laugh. Your cheeks felt wet. We're you seriously crying again?

"Are... Are you serious? You're coming home?"

"Yeah, that's the plan. In about a month or so."

You were smiling so much you were surprised you could even talk. You were honestly so shocked... "For real though? You're not messing with me?"

"Nah, I'm not messing with you. See you in a bit... little man."

The dial tone rang. You laughed. Soft and slow at first, but shortly, you were practically shouting. You ran over to Karkat. "Bro! Bro! He... He's coming home!"

He gave you a confused look. "Who's bro?" You shook your head and ran over to Rose. 

"Lalonde! Hey! Bro's coming home!" Rose let go of her lover's hand and wrapped you in a tight hug. "That's great, Dave! We'll talk more when we get home, but in the meantime, try not to bring it up. You know Karkat's opinion on war." You frowned slightly. 

A hand tapped your shoulder. The sound of an inhaler, the slight lisp, and the annoyed tone of voice let you know it was Karkat.

"Dave, can we hang out now? I'm bored." You turned around, still grinning. For a minute you were shaking so hard with excitement you nearly thought you were vibrating.

"Yeah, bro, that's cool. You wanna dance or something?"

After some persistent nagging and a few slaps, you were holding Karkat's hips and swaying back and forth to the beat of a slow song.

"So, Lalonde and I were talking, and maybe... maybe you could spend the night tonight? I mean, Kanaya's coming over, so-" 

"Don't phrase it like that. Kanaya and Rose are dating, Dave. We aren't."

You frowned. That's right, Karkat was very strict about that stuff. "Yeah, sorry. So, would you? Want to come over, that is."

He shrugged. "I don't see why not. Let me text Kankri, and I should be good. Do you still have my spare pajamas at your house?"

You nodded. 

 

So, two hours later, you were sitting in a room with the three people you were closest to. Playing that stupid cliche pansy game "Truth or Dare." For half an hour, the truths evened out with the dares, and they were pretty neutral. But when you started to get sleepy, things went a little crazy.

"Rose, is it true that you write Harry Potter fanfictions featuring you and Kanaya as Ron and Hermione?"

"Kanaya, I dare you to drink a bottle of Roxy's liquor."

"Dave, Mom stopped drinking years ago and you know it!"

"But she still has old alcohol. The older the stronger."

"Karkat, I dare you to do Dave's makeup."

"Aw, c'mon Rose, really?"

"Dave, I dare you to..."

Karkat paused. He sucked at dares. 

"Dave, is it true that you think my braces are cute?"

You laughed awkwardly. 

"Ha! No! Pfft! No way! Bro, your braces are dorky and stupid. Just like you."

He rolled his eyes.

"Rose, I dare you and Kanaya to kiss."

Kanaya smiled gently and pecked Rose's lips. Karkat booed. 

"Lame! Haven't you ever seen a romcom? Romance is all about playing with one another's hair!"

You laughed.

"And tongue action, ladies!"

Kanaya flipped the bird. Rose smirked and whispered something in her ear, causing her to giggle. You rolled your eyes and gave Karkat a knowing look. Sleepy Rose and Kanaya were equivalent to drunk Rose and Kanaya. It didn't help that Kanaya recently chugged alcohol. 

"Dave, I dare you to kiss Karkat."

You felt your face heat up. You looked over to see the same reaction from Karkat. Your heart was beating so fast, and you felt like your bones were shaking. But you couldn't chicken out on a dare, else your name isn't Dave Strider. You leaned in until you were breathing on his face. 

You should probably point out that you've never been kissed, mainly because you're an openly bisexual, biromantic, trans guy who had a bad case of acne and uncontrollably wavy hair.

Karkat had been kissed before, though. Multiple times. He was great in relationships, even though it killed you inside. 

Your chapped lips met his, and there they were. The fireworks you had always dreamt about. You wrapped your arms around your neck, but he was all tensed up, and pulled away. You looked away awkwardly.

You didn't talk for the rest of the night. Kanaya kept laughing uncontrollably, Rose was awfully smug for someone who barely ever interacts with you anymore, and Karkat was really silent and sort of uncomfortable, so you all went to sleep.

Roxy woke you up at seven the next day. 

"DAVID ELIZABETH STRIDER, WHY ARE THERE PICTURES OF YOU AND KARKAT KISSING ALL OVER FACEBOOK?!"

"Oh sh-"


	12. Put on Your War Paint

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Basically the thing that took me forever to write.

-Put On Your War Paint-

Your bro should be coming home any minute now. 

The Lalondes gave you the great pleasure of waiting at home alone, which just made you even more anxious. 

Tick, tock.

Tick. Tock.

Tick... Tock.

"Aargh!" You shouted out, running a hand through your hair. Your phone buzzed, and you excitedly whipped it out. "Bro?"

"It took me a minute, Strider, but I am decidedly not your brother. Sorry for the disappointment. I just wanted to talk to you." That was Karkat. 

Yeah, that's right, he was still talking to you even after the infamous kiss. You two ignored the topic, and when it came up... well, it hadn't yet, so you wouldn't know. 

"Listen, Karkat, can you call up Gamzee or something? Bro should be home any minute."

A loud sigh was heard. You rolled your eyes and sighed back at him.

"DAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAVE."

He was such a child. Sure, you loved him to death, but you questioned why at times. You rubbed your temples and told him he was acting foolish.

"What, does your bro want you to grow up quickly? Because if I remember correctly, you got sick at Homecoming because you ate too many cookies. And just yesterday you were complaining about how you were too big to go on the seesaw and swings. And let's not forget-"

"Okay, okay. I'm childish too. I get it. I guess I'm sorta stressed out. I mean, what if Bro doesn't love me anymore?"

Okay, you were totally guilt-tripping him. To be honest, Homecoming was a sensitive topic for you, and you were really flustered. You were just using your bro as an excuse.

Karkat clicked his tongue. "Oh, Dave. Your bro still loves you. I know I do." He paused, and a fountain of hope sputtered back to life in you. Was he going to leave the P-Word out this time? "I mean, we all love you Dave. You can practically feel the platonic love that surrounds you." There it was. 

Somebody rapped at the apartment door. You jumped in your seat. "Ohmygod. Ohmygodohmygodohmygod. Karkat, I've got to go. Ohhhhhhh my God." You hung up and ran to the door. 

There he was. You promised you wouldn't do anything sappy, but as soon as you grinned and squeaked "Bro," you were sobbing into his chest.

"Hey, hey, little man!" He was smiling you could feel it. And he was here. He was here, and you were hugging him, and he was hugging you back, and you were probably soaking his shirt. 

He pulled away and looked at your tear-streaked face. He grinned. "Happy to see me?" You nodded and wiped your eyes.

You chatted for about five minutes, when Bro told you something that sparked your interest. "You know, Dave, I have a lot of experience in the Military. I was a commander." You nodded. "So... I was thinking, maybe I could run like a... a mini boot camp or something. Would you like that?"

You began sweating. Was it hot in here? Or were you nervous? Were you even sweating? Maybe you were imagining the whole thing. You know what? Forget you even mentioned it. "Uh... yeah, I guess."

Bro frowned. "Well, think about, 'kay? In the meantime, let's go grab some lunch. Is 'A Cheesy Name' still open?" You laughed. "You mean that old pizza place? Sure it is, my friends and I hang out there all the time."

You walked outside and regretted your clothing choice instantly. It was a hot summer day, and you were wearing a sweatshirt and dark jeans. "Hey, Bro? Can I go change my clothes? It's sorta hot." He shrugged. "Do you have clothed here? If so, go ahead." You frowned. That's right. You live with the Lalondes.

You sighed. It was a hot day, you were wearing hot clothing, and you were going to a stuffy pizzeria. Great.

"KARKAT VANTAS, THAT'S MY NAME! AND I'M ON THE ROAD TO FAME!"

Kankri groaned. "Karkat you would make me exceedingly happy if you stopped yelling. I have a headache, and I would appreciate if you lowered your volume. Thank you for your concern."

You rolled your eyes. "What concern? Kankri, I have to practice my cheering routine!" He frowned. "Cheerleading is a very feminine thing, Karkat. Are you sure you want to join?"

You sat down at the counter and rolled your eyes. "Those idiots at school have no idea I'm trans, Kankri. I'm safe." He shook his head. "What about your breathing problem?"

Speaking of breathing problems. You grabbed your inhaler and took a long breath. You muttered a lame excuse and ran off towards your room.

To be honest, your "problem" was getting worse. Your ribs stuck outward, and your lungs gave out completely at times. You were worried, but Kankri and your father were so daft when it came to your gender that you would probably never get a binder. Your dysphoria was awful, and you could loosen up your ace bandage a bit, but... but... no, you couldn't. It would be too obvious.

You took off your sweater and looked in the mirror. Your ribs jutted out of your chest, and when you took your bandage off, your breasts were irritated and swollen. It didn't look healthy. You let out a frustrated sigh, deciding upon no wearing your bandage for the rest of the weekend. 

Dave was with his brother, Gamzee and Tavros were at the mall, Rose and Kanaya were on a date, Nepeta was hanging out with her stupid brother, Equius, and Aradia was with some old friends ("Feferi and Eridan, and my boyfriend, Sollux."). John was at the orthodontist, and Jade was visiting her old island home. You sure as heck didn't want to hang out with any of Kankri's friends. Or Kankri himself, for that matter.

You sighed again and flopped onto your bed. It was going to be a long day. You touched your ribs and winced. It felt like they were tearing your muscles. They probably were, actually. Your phone buzzed. Who the heck was texting you? All your friends were busy!

"Hey, Bro wanted to know if you could come to his summer boot camp. You'd get a family and friend discount."

You snarled. Boot camp. Wasn't that a war thing? 

"I'll have to think about it. Hey, do you want to maybe spend the night at my place?"

You waited fifteen minutes. That's how long it took for him to reply. And you did absolutely nothing during those fifteen minutes.

"Yeah, I'll be over in a few."

You smiled and told Kankri you were having a friend over. "Okay. Karkat, does Dave know you're trans? Because you're not wearing your bandage."

Right. 

You threw on a old, baggy, long t-shirt that you borrowed from your dad and hoped for the best. Your ribs were actually more noticeable than your breasts. Dave was oblivious when he walked in the door, but later, he noticed something.

"Karkat, uh... you... do you have something in your shirt?"

You turned around and winced. The sudden movement sent a holy of pain through your body. "What?" Dave frowned. "It looks like there's something poking out of your shirt." 

At first, you thought, "This is it, he noticed my boobs," but you soon realized is was your ribs he was looking at, not your breasts. "Oh... uh... that's..." You laughed nervously. 

Dave rolled off your bed and sat next to you, with a concerned look on his face. "Karkat. Take your shirt off." Your eyes widened and you shook your head violently, clutching at your shirt. 

He reached for the bottom of your shirt, slowly pulling it up. You spat protests at him, but he still had that look. That concerned look. "Dave. Please." Your eyes were filling with tears, desperately trying to keep your secret. 

He took one last tug at your shirt, forcing your hands away. Suddenly, he saw it all. Your misshapen ribs. Your breasts. Your scars. Your feminine figure. He gasped and backed away. "Oh my God." 

You hung your head. "Yeah. I know. It's awful, huh?" He touched your shoulder, gently, and then pulled you into a tight hug. The pain in your ribs was awful. "Ow! Ow, stop!" He pulled away and shook his head repeatedly.

"Karkat, we need to get you to the hospital. Now."

He dialed 9-1-1 on his phone, then turned to look at you. "Karkat, I love you to pieces, so I'm going to do two things: I'm going to get you help, and I'm going to lend you a binder. Please... don't do this again."

~One Month Timeskip~

Your name is Rose Lalonde. And guess what you're doing? You're on your way to Dave's house to go to a summer boot camp. All of your friends were participating, so you decided to join. However, it wasn't quite as ideal as you expected from a Strider. Just a few fences, hurdles, barbed wire, mud, parallel bars, and other random objects. 

You were the last of your friends to show up, meaning Bro had already started. All of your friends were wearing odd camouflage uniforms. You frowned. Kanaya had agreed to this?

Dave was sitting on the sidelines, frankly looking quite sad. You didn't want to interfere, but...

Oh, who are you kidding? You're a sucker for helping people with their problems. 

You sighed in, put on the uncomfortable jumpsuit, greeted your friends, and trotted over to your grumpy relative.

"Hello, Dave."

"Screw off, Lalonde." 

You kicked him in the shin. He winced and stood up. "Okay, what do you want?" You noticed that his uniform was not baggy, like he preferred. Could that be the reason for his sad demeanor?

"Strider, Lalonde! Front and center!"

You ran over to Bro and smiled. "Hello, Mr. Strider. How can I be of your assistance?" He rolled his eyes. Wait. Sunglasses. They weren't on him. It did make him seem more professional, but also less... Bro. He pointed to the parallel bars. "None of your friends can do pull-ups. Let's see you try. 

That first attempt, the first time trying to do a pull-up... It was the beginning of pure torture. Okay, maybe that was being a bit overdramatic, but still. It was awful.

You were expected to show up every day 6:00 AM sharp, and you were exercising immediately. You, being non-athletic, found the laboring to be stressful and unnecessary. Not only that, but you were only offered meat for meals, and you were a strict vegetarian.

Bro wasn't considerate of anyone's feelings, especially Dave's. He had tried often to open up to his older brother, communicate with him, but Bro shut him down every time, mumbling something about how he was going to "raise him later."

Kanaya was really stressed out. She had no time for a creative outlet, no time to do anything but go to boot camp. Her older sister, Porrim, was depressed over Karkat's older brother ignoring her, her mother was dead, so she couldn't comfort her daughter, and you were going through the same thing she was.

Well, sort of. 

You started drinking heavily soon after your fifteenth birthday. It was just a sip or two a day at first, but pretty soon, you were raiding your mother's old stash. 

Needless to say, you and her both definitely needed to quit. 

So you did. In mid-July, Kanaya and you straight up walked over to Bro and just... downright quit.

Kanaya even kicked him in am the shin.

Gamzee and Tavros were soon to follow. It was no suitable place for them. For one thing, Tavros was a PARAPLEGIC. He couldn't move his legs. And Gamzee was high AF most of the time.

Nepeta and Aradia stayed longer than expected. Nepeta was surprisingly strong, and Aradia liked the rushing it all. But even they got tired after a while.

As for John and Jade, Jade couldn't show up half the time because of target practice, so she got kicked out, and John's grandfather died, so he never even bothered to show up.

Karkat was holding on for Dave. 

Dave would come home every weekend with Karkat, exhausted and worn out, and Karkat would just flip. There was screaming, crying, silence, puking, and the occasional fight. Bro was really tough on Dave and Karkat, seeing as Dave was his little brother and Karkat was the only one who stuck around in the end.

One night, you walked in on Karkat and Dave watching a movie.

Well, Dave was watching.

Karkat was literally curled up in a ball, just sobbing his eyes out. He was shaking, whimpering, pulling at his own hair... Dave had a tight grip on his arm, and after staring for a while, you realized that he wasn't REALLY focused on the movie. His eyes were filled with fear and worry, and his gaze never lingered in the same place for longer than a moment. He was shaking a bit, too, but out of fright. 

You ran over to them.

Dave's eye was swollen and black, and there was a bright red hand print on his cheek. You didn't even want to look at Karkat, because you saw the drops of blood on Dave's jeans, and you knew he had been cut. 

"Oh my God, guys! What happened?"

Dave's voice was shaky and full of emotion. It brought tears to your eyes, but not in a good way. In a way that filled you with panic.

"Bro brought a friend over today to help us at boot camp while he ran errands... His friend was a child abuser."

Dave and Karkat both ended up in the hospital, and the man in jail. Bro was charged a fine for leaving children in the custody of a dangerous crime. 

His boot camp never did go on after that, but he became a lot more friendly. Opening up to Dave at first, then all of you. 

He still a made you do the occasional pushup or run a lap, but he wasn't as harsh as before. You noticed that Dave trusted him, so you trusted him.

And that was that. So there.


	13. Superman

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Okay, this may be short, but it has some pretty heavy stuff involved. 
> 
> TW: abuse, death, depression, mention of drinking, mention of drugs, and pretty angsty as well.
> 
> But DaveKat becomes Canon.

-Superman-

You are sort of starting to worry about your friends. 

Rose, your beloved girlfriend, was still drinking, not as much, but it was still a nightly habit.

Aradia had lost her adventurous sense and turned into a seemingly emotionless and silent bystander.

Nepeta was heartbroken, for her mother and father were divorcing, meaning she and Equius would be torn apart.

John's nana passing away really affected him. He was no longer goofy and happy all the time, but bossy and emotional.

Jade had given up gardening, her favorite pass time, and target shooting. She said she was, "putting the old gun up for a while," but you suspected it had something to do with her grandfather dying.

Tavros seemed to always be emotional around this time of year, but you never understood why. He also appeared to be giving up on Gamzee, meaning he wasn't even trying to be his friend anymore. What used to be best friends were now two people who rarely conversed.

Gamzee was going to therapy, and he had completely quit his addiction. He had bad withdrawals, though. He sometimes needed to go home because of his headaches. 

Karkat seemed distant, for reasons unknown. It's like something was constantly nagging him, at the back of his mind. Another odd thing was that he... was taking trips to the hospital quite often. His breathing problem seemed to worsen for a while, but now it was starting to get better.

Dave showed up to school with a new wound every day. The bruises, the scrapes... it couldn't have been an accident. However, whenever he was questioned, he got angry and denied everything. He started wearing turtlenecks every day, and got a new pair of shades that covered most of his lower face, meaning his cheekbones and eyes, and his hair covered his forehead. 

And as for you?

You were fine. I mean, Porrim was no longer too depressed to function, and you were doing great with fashion. It seemed every day you made a new statement. You were like a fashion superhero!

But the real superhero was Dave.

He was working harder than ever in class, and cared too much about his friends. He stopped nearly every fight, made every compromise. And whatever was going on at his home stayed secret.

One night, you decided it was too much. You were going to cheer your friends up, one way or another. After getting Porrim's permission, and making a lot of invitations and decorations, you had an entire party ready. 

You handed out the invitations in homeroom, to everyone in your class. Since you were the school's fashion icon, you were pretty popular, meaning you were confident everyone would show up. Handing out the invites to your friends was a bit of a problem. Karkat tried to tell you he didn't like parties, but you knew for a fact he did. And Rose was hungover again. So, she didn't really want to do anything. Dave was the only agreeable one, his only sign of distaste being the subtle wince when he reached for his invite.

Sure enough, almost everyone showed up. There were a few girls who didn't show, one boy, a gender neutral, a demigirl, and an agender. It was casual, so most people showed up in their clothes from earlier that day, and one boy who showed up in a dress, looking for a laugh but getting only silent respect and awkward nods of approval from your friends. ((Sounds like Tumblr, am I right?))

You don't know why, but at the climax of the party, latest night, someone took their empty coke and started the infamous game of "Spin the Bottle."

Of course, no one wanted to seem like the wimp that wouldn't play (you were in high school after all), so your whole class was sitting in a circle on your living room floor. It started off boring, everyone was anxious to see other people forced to kiss, but when it came to them, they just wanted to hug.

Eventually, it was Dave's turn, the life of the party.

"A'ight, guys, listen up. You gotta kiss the person. From now on, you take your lips, and smash them on the other's lips. Got it?"

As soon as those words left your lips, you regretted it. Because the bottle was directed at nine other than Gamzee Makara, the weed head. You sneered and pecked his lips gently. 

"Gay! So gay!"

You flipped the shouted off and handed the bottle to Gamzee. He flipped it so quickly, with such force, it landed in Karkat's lap. "Dude, kiss the stoner!"

Gamzee aimed for Karkat's lips with his mouth open, but ended up finding Karkat's mouth closed, so it was kinda gross.

You looked over to see Tavros glaring at Karkat, yet all red in the face. 

Karkat spun the bottle, and you got ready to shoot daggers at whoever he was forced to smooch... until it landed on you. 

You were squealing on the inside, but you just smirked and watched as Karkat grumbled a complaint and crawled over to you.

You grabbed him by the back of his neck and crashed your lips into his.

He wasn't exactly kissing you back, but at least his mouth was open, matching yours. The room fell silent, and he stiffened, then pulled away. "Dave..." You looked up at him. His eyes were teary. 

The whole house stayed silent and just watched as he ran away, out the front door, just away. You stood up and tried to catch up to him, but he shoved you, and pressed against one of the bruises on your ribcage.

The party ended an hour later. You grabbed your bike and started pedaling your way home. You lived nearly an hour away from Kanaya's on bike, but no way were you sitting alone in a car with bro. He was too... intimidating.

You slowed down and touched your neck, where a cut was just scanning over. He gave that to you just today, when you asked if you could have a ride to Kanaya's.

You crossed the street and drew your hands away from your neck... only to nearly hit Karkat. "STRIDER, WHAT THE HELL?"

You got off your bike and ran after him. "Hey, Karkat! So glad to see you!" He snarled. "Tell me, Dave, do you normally run over people that you like seeing?" You chuckled nervously and shook your head. "No, only you bro." He smiled and opened his mouth, but suddenly, he frowned and started walking faster.

"Hey, Karkles, why the rush? You got somewhere to be?" He nodded. "Yes. Away from you." You grabbed his arm. "Hey, sorry." He rolled his eyes."Dave, I'm not mad that you almost hit-"

"No, I... I mean about the kiss."

He stiffened again and looked away. "Karkat, listen, I... REALLY like you. And you obviously don't, so... yeah. Sorry." He turned around.

"Dave, I'm sorry."

You shrugged. "Nah, it's cool. This is the first time I've been turned down, so-" "I'm sorry that Bro abuses you, I mean."

Your eyes widened, and you stumbled backward. "How did you..." He smiled sadly. "I was there the day he first hit you. Remember? I knew he caused those bruises. And... maybe you could spend the night? To get away from that?" 

A thought suddenly struck you. 

"Aw, crap, my bike! Bro's gonna kill me!"

Karkat leaned in and kissed your cheek. It was soft and quick, but it shut you up and kept you a grinning idiot all the way to his house, so it worked.

After that, you two sort of accepted the fact that you both had insane crushes on each other, and you started going out. He kept you safe at his house most of the time, only letting you leave if you had run out of clothing or Bro threatened to call the police, which happened more than once.

His abuse was getting worse every day. You ended up in the hospital on more than one occasion. Karkat's family helped as much as they could, but it was seemingly useless.

Kanaya nicknamed you "Superman," because, according to her, you were "dealing with so much stress, yet you remain a good friend and student." Apparently only superheroes can do that. Karkat got in the habit of calling you his hero, so it was sort of official that you were Superman.

That's pretty much the reason that when Halloween rolled around, you asked Bro for a Superman costume. He slapped you across the face, hard, and said that you needed to buy the costume by yourself.

You were really letting yourself go, and not in the way that middle-aged men do. You were scrawny and pale, and you were super skittish. You rarely got to eat at home, and you were exhausted. Not to say that you were weak. No, Bro would never allow that. He made you strife with him every day. You had really good upper body strength.

Your grades were getting better, as well. Bro wasn't all about body strength, he was also about wisdom. Whenever you stayed the night at his house, you never slept, only studied and strifed. It was hard for you.

One night he came home late. You knew the drill, so you were already studying. "Fight me," he said, he voice loud and harsh. "Bro, I have a math test tomorrow. I have to study." He pounded his fist on the table. "I SAID, FIGHT ME!"

You were shaking. He grabbed your wrist roughly and leaned down until your faces were only an inch apart. His breath reeked of alcohol. "FIGHT ME, DAPHNE!" You winced. Not only was this harsh pain unbearable, but you hated that name. He took his fist and collided it with your face, sending your shades to the floor. 

He pushed you to the floor and just started wailing on you. Pounding against your chest, slapping your face, wrapping his hands around you and throttling you. You were screaming, tears rolling down your face.

"Bro, STOP!" You screeched as loud as possible. He grabbed a sword of the couch and, with a swift move, put a gash in your side. "STOP IT!"

"Daphne, STAND UP AND FIGHT ME!"

You don't know what happened, because you were on the verge of unconsciousness, but sometime after that, the door opened, and an old couple who you vaguely recognized and three police officers barged in. And then you blacked out.

You woke up two days later in the hospital, a doctor and a nurse at your side. Your binder had been removed, and an IV was stuck in your side. The doctors let you know that Bro had been arrested, and you were in critical condition. Nobody could visit you for a while, excepting family. 

Your Aunt Elizabeth had arranged to adopt you. She lived nearby, only two towns down, so you would still go to the same school. 

But you worried. That's all you could do for a while. Worry, worry, worry. 

It had been four years since Vriska died. 

You were sitting in your wheelchair, in front of her grave.

"Uh... hi. It's me, Tavros."

You waited for a response, but soon realized she was dead, and you would never hear her voice again. 

"R-Right. So, it's been a while since you passed, huh?" You laughed softly. "Don't worry, I'll never stop coming here. So, it... it's been sorta tough for my friends lately, y'know? Ha ha, yeah..."

You bent over and stoked the gravestone. "Best friends forever, okay?"


	14. Family Reunion

-Family Reunion-

(Yeah Boy THis is Rose's POV)

I was on a date with Kanaya when I got the text. It was from Mom. She seemed to be in no danger, since she still altered her text to a light pink and place a cat emoji next to her name on the bottom, but the text seemed urgent. 

"Rosie, this is a family emergency. Come home immediately. ( Don't worry sweetheart, you're not in trouble :D ) 

-Mama Lalonde"

I sighed and explained the situation to Kanaya, who was very polite and understanding. I paid for y half of the meal (much to Kanaya's dismay) and started walking home. When I caught sight of my driveway, I was utterly confused. 

There were four cars in the driveway: a bright orange truck, a small light blue car, a black jeep, and a white minivan decorated with bumper stickers and pink decals. Dave's bike was parked in the garage, along with John's skateboard. 

I opened the door to see my mother grinning from ear to ear. I dropped my purse on the table and shot her a confused look. "Rose!" I tilted my head to the side and tried to see what she was so excited about. "Hey, Mom. What was the emergency?" She giggle, but said nothing. My eyes widened. "Wait a minute..." My "mom" was wearing a pink miniskirt and an off-the-shoulder shirt I saw at Hollister a few days before. Her hair was waiver, and the tips were dyed a hot pink. She was also really... young. She only seemed about twenty seven. My mom was in her mid-forties! 

She squealed and wrapped me in a tight hug. I stiffened and pulled away. "Who are you?" She wiped an unnecessary tear away from her face. "I'm... I'm your... we're related." I frowned and shook my head. "You look like my mom." She smiled. "And you look like mine." My mom snuck up behind me and grabbed my shoulders. I shrieked and the girl laughed. 

"Rosie, this is Roxy. She's your... sister? I think." Roxy shrugged. "Shall we go see how the Striders are?" Mom shrugged. "Dirk and Dave haven't met yet. But John and Jane have. And Jade's still not here."

The three of us walked into the living room to see John tightly hugging a chubby woman in a blue dress. He was crying. "Nana-" "John, I'm not your nana." He sobbed. The woman smiled sadly and rubbed his back. "You can call me 'Nana' if you like, though." I felt awkward and sad and confused, so I didn't react when Roxy put her arm around my shoulders. 

Dave was sitting in a rocking chair, stiff and nervous. You noted that he wasn't wearing a binder, but did have a baggy red sweatshirt on. Roxy walked over to the chubby woman and tapped her shoulder. "Janey, can I talk with you?" She nodded. "Of course." She practically peeled John off of her and followed Roxy to the kitchen. John sat alone, silent. Dave stood up and sat next to him on the couch. I did the same. 

Jade walked in soon after, followed by a muscular man in glasses. "Jade, just listen to me-" "For the last time, Jake, I get it! We've MET before!" I grinned when Jake huffed and stormed into the living room, because Jade rarely even smiled anymore, and she was laughing so hard she stumbled and fell.

Jake sighed and ran a hand through his hair. "Jesus Christ, Harley, you're my grandmother! And... and I'm your grandfather! How does that even work?" She caught her breath and grinned. "No use in trying to decipher it. Just go with it!" 

Roxy and Jane re-entered the room, and pretty soon, all the kids were conversing with their distant family. All, of course, except for Dave. 

Maybe it was for the best. Maybe if Dirk never walked out of that room, I wouldn't have had to call Karkat. Maybe if I hadn't have had to call Karkat, Kanaya wouldn't have shown up with him. Maybe if they hadn't shown up, Dave wouldn't have been as overwhelmed.

But Dirk walked out of the bedroom, and Dave saw him. He essentially freaked out. I tried to tell him it was okay, but he was screaming. "Stay AWAY from me!" 

Dirk's face fell. "Dave-" "SHUT UP! Don't TALK to me! What is WRONG WITH YOU?!"

Dirk reached out to the panicked boy. I grimaced. This wasn't going to end well. And, like I predicted, it didn't.

Dave slapped Dirk's arm away with such force his shades fell off. Dirk's jaw dropped as he stared at Dave. "Get AWAY from me, Bro." And with that, he ran out of the room, his cellphone in hand. The door to his old room slammed shut, and his frantic voice was heard. 

Dirk ran a hand through his hair and sighed, plopping down on the couch next to John and I. "Man, what's up with him?" He asked. "Sounds like he has some serious Daddy issues." John stared at him, as if he wasn't just sobbing and his friend didn't just have a panic attack. 

"You mean you don't know?" Dirk frowned. "Know what?" I swallowed. "Dave's brother is a child abuser, and so was one of his friends." Dirk froze. "I need to go talk to him." 

He stood up, and started heading towards Dave's room, but when I heard Dave's voice straining, crying, "Karkat..." it was too much. I stood up and grabbed Dirk's shirt. He sat down and we waited. About ten minutes later, Karkat and Kanaya showed up. 

Karkat saw Dirk and his face twisted into a mixture of fear and hatred. "What are you doing here?" Dirk stood up. "Look, I'm not who you think I am. My name is Dirk Strider, and I-" Karkat shoved Dirk, pushing him to the ground. Kanaya winced. "Karkat, please, let's be rea-" "What did you do to Dave?" 

I stood up and grabbed Karkat's arm. "That's ENOUGH, Karkat. This is NOT Dave's brother. Now apologize to Dirk and go get your boyfriend." Karkat's face heated up. He muttered a lousy, "Sorry," and dashed from the room. Dirk laughed softly and shook his head. 

"Wow," Kanaya said, offering the man a hand. He accepted and stood up. "You know, I idolized him. I dreamed of the day we would finally meet. And to find out that he's some PTSD patient with an angry boyfriend..." He shrunk under the glare he received from John, Kanaya, and I. "N-Not that he's a disappointment. It's just... okay, he hated me. He hated the very man who wished to see him most... in my opinion, that is. It's just..." He pinched the bridge of his nose. 

I nodded. "Trust me, Dave's normally a lot... cooler than this? No, he's a huge socially inept dork most of the time, but he's not always so panicky." John nodded. "Before, back when he lived with Rose, he was really smooth and stuff. Like, nice with the ladies and all. Before he turned gay." Kanaya groaned, and I flicked the back of his head. Dirk shook his head. "You don't TURN gay." Kanaya rolled his eyes. "And he's bi, not gay."

Jade and Jake tumbled into the room, chasing each other. Jade was laughing, but stopped when Jake stopped running. Her face fell. "Why so serious, guys?" Dirk stiffened. "Hey Jake." Jake raised his eyebrows. "Dirk. Nice to see you showed up." Dirk nodded and looked away. 

After the obvious tension between Dirk and Jake melted, Karkat came out of the room, followed by a weary Dave. "Dirk?" Dirk smiled. "Hey. Sorry about before, by the way. I didn't know your brother was-" "It's fine. I overreacted. So... hi." Dirk nodded. 

After that, things went pretty smooth. The rest of your friends ended up coming over, and pretty soon the adults were drinking, and the kids all holed up in my basement. We crashed on random sleeping bags, cots, and the couch. 

Dave's anxiety evened out, and he got a lot more comfortable with a lot of things. He was back to supporting those who served in war, much to Karkat's dismay, and his smooth composure returned. His gender dysphoria was never a problem to begin with, but now he was even more open than before. Kanaya was even inspired by his confidence and came out to the school principal, so she wouldn't have to during the school year.

Everything was right as rain. Aradia and Nepeta finally introduced their old friends to the group. Eridan, a bitter hipster, seemed to know Gamzee, and I had seen Feferi a few times around. Basically, you were happy with each other.

Tavros was opening up finally, but in a creepy. They admitted that they were dating a dead girl. Gamzee actually reacted to this and worried about Tavros. They smiled at their tall friend and shook their head. "Don't get me wrong Gamzee, I totally think you're a great guy. But Vriska and I were in love." Gamzee understood, but still didn't give up on Tavros.

John was visiting his newfound nana on a daily basis, and although Jade insisted she didn't need Jake, she was so much happier with him around. 

Karkat was pretty content. He stopped seeing the hospital so often, and he was a lot more... calm. Just... at peace with the world. 

And as for Kanaya and I? Well, we had a strong relationship. I was in love. It was perfect.

Well, for the most part. :)


	15. Perfect, in a Flawed Sort of Wa

-Perfect, in a Flawed Sort of Way-

Your junior year of high school, you learned so much, but so little. I mean, you learned life skills, which sunk in, but you're surprised you didn't flunk algebra, you know?

Dave, Rose, John, and Jade met a few of their family relatives, and they had pretty much grouped with you. 

Now, don't get me wrong, you had a large group of friends before (ten people), but with an additional four people, it was huge. Not to mention that they were all in their mid-twenties. 

You had another friend that Jane and Roxy introduced to you. The three of them were in a "polyamorus relationship," which meant they were all dating each other. Her name was Calliope, and she had cancer. She was really nice, and it gave you a chance to have a friend while visiting the hospital. 

You admittedly had feelings for her, but she was aromantic, and already in a polyamorus relationship (not to mention neither Roxy nor Jane was willing to date you, platonic or otherwise). Besides, you had Gamzee. Meaning you fell for Gamzee much harder than you fell for Calliope, and he seemed to at least have a slight interest you.

Hey, at least you were finally getting over Vriska. 

But, anyways. Yeah. Calliope. 

She was probably the smartest person you've ever met. She told you all you needed to know about being a junior. She gave you advice on Gamzee and Vriska. She even prepared you for the real world. Mid-terms rolled around, and you were close friends. 

Her brother, Claiborne, was a jerk. He visited her one day, his had shaven. She smiled. "Did you donate it to cancer?" He sputtered. "What? Ha. NO! Why would I do anything for you? " You snickered at his pathetic attempt to make Calliope think he didn't care. She didn't fall for it. "Mom and Dad would have been proud." 

Realization suddenly hit you. It suddenly made sense why Caliborne showed up in ratty clothing, all messy, and why he was extremely unhealthy (well, Calliope was unhealthy, too). It made perfect sense why neither of them ever attended school, and why they lived together. Calliope and Caliborne were orphans! 

This made you have even more respect for Calliope. 

That day when you left, you bumped into someone on your way out, you and your canes toppling to the floor. "Jesus Christ, watch where you're going!" You looked up.

Of course, you knew Vriska was dead. But if this girl wasn't some punk version of Vriska, well... you'd be utterly surprised. As she glared down at you, you stared up at her. "Vriska? Is that you?" 

She backed away. "What are you, crazy?" You smiled. "Wow! I... sorry, you... look like an old girlfriend of mine." She looked slightly scared, but she still managed to compliment herself by saying, "You got a good taste."

Another girl walked up behind her. "Prometheus, did you just push this kid down?" She shook her head. "No, Meenah, I swear! He bumped into me!" She laughed and slung an arm around Punk Vriska's shoulder. 

You cleared your throat. "Listen, Parentheses-" "Prometheus. It's... Greek Mythology." You gulped. "Yeah, of course. Um... can you, you know, help me up?"

After that, you kept seeing Prometheus, and you kept calling her Parentheses. You could very well say that you had an unhealthy one-sided friendship. She hated you, but her girlfriend, Meenah, seemed to like you. 

Of course, your friends thought you were crazy for all of this stuff- Calliope, Prometheus, Gamzee, and Vriska... it seemed like too much. So, when our group finally raised enough money to go on vacation during spring break, they were positive it would be good for you. 

Don't get me wrong, you had a great time. Everyone did. Especially Dave and Karkat, because they got to share a bed, and they were both big cuddlers. You would know, you have your fair share of sleepovers with each of them.   
You stayed at this nice motel in Florida, one with plenty of rooms for each of you. Then, in the morning, you all just separated and did your thing. Rose and Kanaya went to check out this witchcraft shop, Dave went to the movie theaters, Karkat and Aradia went to the local library, Nepeta and Gamzee followed John and Jade to the pool, and you kind of just drove around, looking for nothing in particular. 

All in all, it was a great experience. Well, kind of. I mean, you spent a whole two weeks living without best friends. Eventually people began to get sick of each other. 

One night, Dave and Karkat got into a bad fight. Karkat was crying, and Dave couldn't even look at his boyfriend he was so mad. You went to check on them, along with Rose and Aradia. You weren't even sure what they started fighting over, but Karkat was crying so hard he got sick in the bathroom, and Dave at on their bed, staring at the wall. "Jesus," he said, taking off his shades.

Dave didn't like to express his feelings like that, so the fight must have really gotten to him. While Rose and Aradia went to go comfort Karkat, you wheeled your way over to him. "What's up, Tavros? I see your beloved canes are not accompanying you this evening." You sighed.

"Dave, why would you and Karkat fight? You guys have such a good relationship." He ran a hand through his thick, bleached hair. "I know. It's just... he doesn't think very highly of himself, okay? And, we were..." His face lit up. "Well, we were kissing. I tried to take his shirt off, but he was struggling. I thought it had something to do with... with something personal I'm not going to go into. Anyways, he was sort of... crying a bit, even then. So, I got worried. He tried to push away from me, but I was comforting him, you know? He calmed down after a while and sighed, and then pulled his shirt off."

Dave's eyes were filling, his voice cracking. This was really getting to him, wasn't it? 

"He was hurting himself. Clawing at his skin, cutting himself with knives, scratching his flesh with tacks. He said he was unhappy. I... I lost control of myself. I was yelling at him. He felt worse then, and suddenly, there was pushing, and my PTSD kicked in and... I think I hurt him." 

Karkat walked out of the bathroom, eyes puffy and red. He made his way over to Dave, and just curled up in his lap, and that was it for Dave. He was sobbing. Karkat stroked his beautiful brown skin and smiled sadly at him. They started kissing again, and that was the end of our trip. 

You learned a lot from that trip. You don't know what, and you don't know how, but you left feeling thoroughly educated. You faced Prometheus later on. 

"Hey, Parentheses!" She turned around and sighed. "What is it, Tav-Blows?" You squinted and wheeled over. "That insult doesn't make sense." "Sure it does. Your name is Tavros, and you blow." You rolled your eyes. "I just wanted to let you know that I'm not going to take any more freaking crap from you." 

She smirked. "Doing something useful for once?" You smiled. "Yeah. I am." She scoffed and started walking away. "Oh, and Parentheses? You are NOTHING like the Vriska I knew. Vriska was a jerk, but you're worse. It's like Vriska got worse as time went on. If this is what my girlfriend would have turned out to be like, then I'm glad she died."

You were a mess. This whole chapter is a mess, to be honest. You didn't do your best at describing that year. But, it was a really confusing year, so...

(Dave's POV)

After spring break ended and school started back up, Karkat and I grew closer together. I'm not just talking about Karkat opening up to me, I mean we had a STRONG bond. Our thing was to stop mid-kiss and ask the other, "Do you trust me?" And the other would always reply with, "Of course I do." 

My aunt let me stay over Karkat's often. I eventually got used to Kankri lecturing me, and Karkat's dad preaching or whatever. He had a messed up family for sure. But anyways, one night, he showed me where he kept all his tacks and knives. Some of the weapons had dried blood on them. I took the whole box and threw it out the window into the snow that was only just starting to melt.

He did stop hurting himself, after all. He went back to being Karkat Vantas, a bitter cheerleader with a big heart and a great boyfriend.

After one particular makeout session, he got really quiet. Like, really quiet. And then he started to take off my shirt. I stared at him, confused and sleepy. He rested a shaky palm on my breast. I smiled gently. "Hey, you have them too, you know," I whispered. His hand left my breast and slid down my side, stopping at the scar Bro left. 

He started shaking even more. "Why would he want to hurt you, Dave? You're beautiful." I pulled him in towards my chest, and we stayed there like that, silent and shaky, until we were too tired to sit up. 

Tavros told me that junior year was the most confusing time of his life. That he was a mess, weary, and distressed. But for me? It was the first time in my life that things made sense.


	16. Destined To Sit In Silence

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> DaveKat drama.  
> Really One-Sided minor NepKat.  
> Dave and Karkat break up.  
> I'm sorry this took so long.
> 
>  
> 
> For those of you who read it.

-Destined to Sit in Silence-

You were on your way to go see your brother, Equius. 

Sorry, not brother. Not anymore, anyways. 

You pressed harder on the gas at the thought, and nearly hit a car. The driver swerved away and honked. You winced. 

"Sorry!"

The man stuck up his middle finger and drove away. You sighed and closed your eyes. 

You don't remember much of what happened in the next half hour, but it started raining really hard, and you were driving alone. The road was very slippery. 

You leaned forward, trying to see. Your phone rang. The road was getting worse, so you let it ring. It went to voicemail.

"Hi, you've reached Nepeta! Not here right now, leave a message!" 

Someone sighed on the other end of the phone. 

"Hey, this is Karkat. Can you... come pick me up when you have the chance? Dave and I... got into a fight. I'm outside of that little restaurant near the gas station on our road. See ya, I guess. Bye?"

You sighed and pulled over so you could call him back. 

"Hello?"

"Hi, Karkat. I'll be there in, like, half and hour. If I'm not, just get a ride from Kankri."

He huffed.

"See, that's the reason why I called you. You're kind of the only person I know that won't drive me off the edge of the cliff that is sanity. I'm an emotional wreck, it's raining, and I don't have a car. How far away are you, exactly?"

You sighed and looked at the time. 

"Well, if I went to go pick up Equius, half an hour, like I said. But I'm only fifteen minutes away."

"Well, can you please come here before you visit your weird ex-brother? I'm miserable."

You would have to call Equius and tell him that you'd be late, but it shouldn't be a problem.

"Yeah, see you then."

After leaving a message at the Zahhak's answering machine, you swerved out into the road. Maybe you were pressing on the gas a little harder than you should have, and maybe the road was a little too slippery to be speeding on. 

The next thing you remember was someone unclipping you from your seatbelt and noticing that your car had flipped. You fell asleep in the ambulance, even though doctors tried to keep you awake. 

You woke up the next day with Karkat by your side. Your arm hurt a little, but you examined it to see that you ha d just gotten a few stitches. He winced. "Jesus, that's gotta hurt."

You laughed. "Yeah." You quickly realized that you never picked him up yesterday. "Uh, sorry that I left you in the rain the other day."

He smiled. "It's fine. Hey, I brought you two outfits. Uh... are you a... boy or a girl today? I... I can't really understand with you." 

You knew how confusing that could be. "That's fine, Karkat. I feel more like a guy today, I guess." He handed you a pair of baggy khaki shorts, boxers, a binder, and a baggy green shirt. With you, being bigender meant that some days you felt like a female, other days a male, and some days as both at once. 

People often confuse you with genderfluid people who only switch between male and female, but that's just not the case. 

After changing into your clothing, you walked back out to see Rose and Kanaya had arrived. They were speaking with Karkat about some fight he had with Dave. You sat on the cost and joined in.

"I don't know, things between us are kind of... off lately," Karkat said in reply to something Kanaya had said that you'd missed.

"Maybe you should take a break." 

Rose suggestion hung in the air, tense and heavy. 

At that exact moment, Dave himself walked in. He held bunched up flowers in his hand and looked at you. "Hey, Nepeta. Sorry about your crash and fall. Hope you feel better." You laughed. "Dave, you sound like you're leaving a message on a phone." He nodded. "Yeah, I, uh, sorta practiced those lines in the car."

Karkat stood up. "I have to go." Dave's face lit up. "Karkat, hey! I uh... listen, I'm sorry. About last night."

Rose cleared her throat. "Karkat is interested in taking a break, Dave."

Dave sputtered. "What? You want to break up over something this stupid?" He questioned. It seemed unbelievable to him. You sucked your cheeks in. What did Dave do that made Karkat so upset?

"Um... what is this about, anyways?" 

Kanaya blinked. "Nepeta has a point. What is this all about?" Karkat looked at Dave and sneered. "He wants to join the military."

Everybody excepting Dave and Karkat groaned and rolled their eyes. "This military crap again?" Rose asked. "If it irritates you that much, Karkat, why don't you just ask Dave to stop talking about it?" 

Karkat stomped his foot. "You're missing the point! He wants to leave me to join some stupid war after he graduates next year!" Dave raised his hand. 

"Hi, so, since this topic concerns me so much, mind if I participate?" He turned to Karkat. "Actually, I would wait a summer to go so the author could have a prep chapter before their pause." (Yes, he broke the fourth wall.) 

Karkat took a deep, shaky breath. "You would leave me! You're going to be faced with so much danger! Your gender dysphoria would act up, because you can't wear a binder in combat! You could die!" His voice broke. "Don't leave me here!"

Rose looked at you. You bit your lip. "Karkat, if you care about that so much... why don't you just go with him? I mean... Aradia and I were planning on signing up as well." Kanaya nodded. "Rose and I were planning on working as nurses."

Rose smiled. "Jade definitely wants to engage in combat, and John wants to be fighting right next to her." 

Dave grinned. "You'd be the only one in our whole group of friends who's not joining." 

Karkat puffed his cheeks out. "What about Gamzee and Tavros?" He asked Dave, hands placed on his hips. 

Dave raised an eyebrow. "Gamzee wants to be a chef, and Tavros wants to work with animals, which are two completely opposite jobs. But they want to work together. You can figure out the rest."

Karkat's shoulders slumped. "The military could offer them that." Dave nodded, a smug smirk plastered on his face. "But I would still have the older kids to hang out with!"

You laughed. Karkat glared at you. "What on earth is so funny, Nepeta?" You giggled. "Nothing. It's just... you hate hanging out with our older friends as it is, you would only avoid them even more if you had to do it alone." 

Kanaya smiled. "So, Karkat, what's stopping you?" He threw his hands in the air. "Hell if I know! I've been against war my whole life, and now my only friends are determined to join in on the murder festivities! Maybe I need to take a break from all of you!" 

Dave frowned. "Karkat, baby-" "Dave, please don't call me that anymore." 

Dave dropped your flowers. You winced. He started heavily stepping towards Karkat. Karkat closed his eyes, but stayed in place. Instead of the impact he was bracing himself for, Dave wrapped him in a warm hug. You sighed. Dave wasn't abusive, but the way Karkat reacted nearly had you convinced he was.

"I love you." Karkat tensed, his eyes widening. He pushed away from Dave. "I have to go." Dave stood silent, stunned, before he sat down next to you and started sobbing. Not just small sobs, either. He was practically screaming his tears. You reached over and rested a hand on his shoulder. He melted into you. 

Rose walked over to him, and Kanaya shakily pulled out her phone and called Rose's mom for help. Dave was soaking your shirt with tears. 

After five minutes straight of crying, he sniffed, wiped his eyes, and let out a long string of swears, some so vulgar you had to plug your ears. Rose rubbed his back and waited until he was done. He tapped your shoulder. You looked at him and let your hands leave your ears. 

"Hey, man, thanks for letting me use your shirt for my [CENSORED] stupid tears." You shrugged. "No problem. Just go a little easier on the binder in the future, okay?" You teased, ignoring the fact that your binder actually was wet, and quite uncomfortable at that.

Gamzee walked into the crowded room, pushing Tavros. "Hey, what's all this crying about?" Dave mumbled a few more swears, (he must have been really angry) grabbed his shades, and left the hospital. Kanaya explained that Dave was fine now to Rose's mother, and Tavros sunk down in his wheelchair. 

"Nothing, Gamzee. It's fine." Tavros smiled at you. "What about you? Are you fine?" You nodded. "Yes, Tavros. I'm fine." 

Gamzee locked his fingers with Tavros and nodded. "That's great. So, we just wanted to drop off these flowers, and tell you that John and Jade couldn't come, they're visiting their grandmother."

You nodded at Gamzee, frankly proud of him for using such good vocabulary. Fifteen minutes later, the room was empty. You were left with stupid thoughts and a hurting arm. Why did Karkat get so upset over something so simple? It's not like going to war would be a life career. You pulled out your phone.

"Nepeta? What is it?"

You felt your stomach flutter.

Crap. No. You couldn't start falling in love with Karkat. He was grumpy, rude, and gay. Not that there was anything wrong with being gay. But... still. It'd be stupid to fall for one of your best friends. 

"Hi. Uh, I just wanted to know if you were okay. You know, about Dave."

That was horrible. Don't do it, Nepeta.

"Ugh. [INSERT CENSORED KARKAT RANT]. But yeah, besides that? I'm fine."

Your phone beeped. Equius was calling you. 

"Is... Dave still there?" 

You ignored the call. 

"No. Everybody's gone. I promise."

Karkat sniffed. 

"Gah. Listen, Kankri just got home. I have to go."

Your phone beeped again. Jesus, when did Equius get so pushy? You pressed the "ignore" button again and sighed. 

"Yeah. Sure. Call me after you eat dinner and stuff."

"Sure. Bye."

You hung up and fell backwards onto your cot. Your cell phone buzzed again. You groaned and picked it up. 

"Oh my GOD, Equius, if I can ignore your calls, I'm obviously fine!"

The other end was silent for a minute.

"Nepeta, this is Aradia."

Oh. Whoops. You should probably call Equius and let him know you're fine, then. 

"Oh... sorry."

Aradia laughed. "It's fine, Nepeta. I just wanted to know if you were okay. So... are you?"

"No, I'm perfectly fine. Thanks for calling. Bye."

"Wait, what?! Nepeta-"

You pressed the little red button and dialed your best friend's number. He picked up almost instantly.

"Hi Equius. Sorry for ignoring your calls before. I was talking to... a friend."

He cleared his throat.

"All right then. Nepeta, I will be picking you up in about two hours."

You picked at the end of your shirt. "Thank you, Equius."

Sure enough, two hours later, Equius was sitting on your cot, holding you as you cried. "I just don't know what to do." 

He puffed out his cheeks. "Is it possible... that this little 'crush' you've developed could potentially be harmful to your friendship?" You nodded.

You spent the night at his house, watching movies and playing games. Just like when you were kids. When everything was easy. If your arm started to hurt, Equius would comfort you. If thoughts of Karkat started to bother you, he would tell you funny stories. He was by far the best thing that ever happened to you. 

You fell asleep on his floor, but woke up in his bed. He was asleep on the floor where you had sat before. 

Watching movies, fooling around, telling stories, like when you were kids.

When everything was easy.


	17. Permanent Hiatus

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sorry.

Hi. I just wanted to let you know that I will not be finishing this work right now, nor will I ever.

I've recently lost interest in Homestuck, and I'm frankly just not proud of this work.

Yes, I may rewrite it in the future.

No, it will not be soon.

I will be leaving this up on Ao3, since I know a few of you liked it, and maybe more people will want to read it.

But this is the end.

 

I will not give away the ending, since there is still the potential that I will rewrite it.

 

Thank you.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Remember that time like last year when I said I'd never like Homestuck again?? Lmao wow what a ratta tootie  
> (8-8-16)


	18. Good News

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Is it actually good news though?? Yeah I guess

Guess who fell back into the pits of hell?

(Pssst)

(It's me)

Yep, that's right. I like Homestuck again. Like, I managed to claw my way out of that hole for a good year. Except it wasn't a good year. But it was a year. 

Anyways, I got obsessed with a few other things that I now kind of really regret ever liking (coughs twenty one pilots cough cough undertale), then my friend got into Homestuck, yadayada, I'm gonna rewrite Militarystuck. 

Happy birthday. 

 

Heck this I'm doin a leave bye


	19. IDK WHO READS THIS ANYMORE BUT IM REDOING IT

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> youre welcome

http://archiveofourown.org/works/8287663

NEW MILITARYSTUCK IS UP SORRY FOR TAKING SO LONG I HAVE DEPRESSION


End file.
